Finding Each Other In The Midst Of All The Chaos
by CriminalIntelligence
Summary: Will never bothered correcting the patients who assumed that Natalie and him were together. When she finds out, she doesn't take it well, but not for the reasons that Will thinks. He tries to make it better while she tries to figure out how she feels.


It was cold out. Colder than usual as one of the harshest winters in years blasted through Chicago. Will pulled his parka around him tighter as he made the short trip between his car and the entrance of Chicago Memorial's ER.

"Will, wait up, pregnant women can't walk as fast as you!" He heard a female's voice call. He grinned to himself before turning on his heel and walking back to wear Natalie stood, with just a knitted cardigan, a sweater and a pair of leggings on.

"How the hell aren't you freezing!" He rushed over to her, and quickly took of his jacket to throw over her shoulders.

"I am, but apparently there is no such thing as a maternity winter jacket. This-" she said gesturing down to her outfit, "is the only things that will both keep me warm and fit me." Natalie pouted as she finished her sentence and Will could hide the grin that made its way across his face.

"It's not funny!" She exclaimed, but even she couldn't help join in on laughing.

"Come on Nat, can't let the baby mama freeze out here. Shift isn't for another thirty minutes, lets get hot chocolate." Natalie groaned, placing her hand on her thirty-six-week stomach, it was her last week at the hospital before she went on maternity leave for six months.

"There is eggnog in the break room to, right? I take a cup of that instead." Will nodded and they walked through the doors, Will's arm draped across her shoulders. The other doctors and a few nurses spared them a momentary glance, but quickly went back to what they were doing as they knew this was a regular occurrence for the two.  
Nobody bothered them as thy made their way to the break room until a woman came up to them.

"How far along are you?" She asked, nodding towards Natalie's baby bump. Will smiled, he liked when people asked her, it made her happy. Natalie beamed at the brunette-haired woman.

"Eight months." She told the woman.

"Is it your first?" She asked kindly and both Natalie and Will nodded, the latter unaware that he was doing so.

"Well, it's an experience that neither of you will forget, I think you guys will make amazing parents." She smiled and before either one of the doctors had fully realized what she said, she was gone.

"Wait. Did she just- Ma'am!" Natalie tried calling after the woman to no avail. Will, however just stood there, with an amused look on his face.

"So how many times has that happened now?" He asked no one in particular, Nat gave him a quizzical look.

"Never, this is the first time… Isn't it Will?" She asked, raising her eyebrows.

"Well no, I mean yes- I mean, not to the both of us, but yeah I've had a few patients ask if we were together, and if I was excited about becoming a dad." He shrugged nonchalantly and Nat's eyes widened.

"What did you say! Why have you never told me!"

"Well because I knew you would react like this!" He laughed, April was watching the exchange now, with an amused smile. She knew that Natalie missed Jeff, and she knew that to an extent her friend was still grieving her husband's death. But she also knew that Natalie was slowly letting Will back in, just like before Jeff died, and that Will was slowly falling for her again.

"What did you tell them?" She asked again, this time with an edge in her voice.

"Well the first couple of times people asked me I told them the truth, that you're my best friend, and that your husband passed away before you found out about the baby. But then more patients started asking, and it just became easier to smile and nod and say yes." Natalie's jaw was to the ground before she slid his jacket off of her arms and dropped it on the floor, turning on her heel and slamming the break room door in his turned back towards April, and now Conner and Sarah, the three of them laughing hysterically.

"What the hell was that!" He exclaimed, Sarah stepped forward, shaking her head.

"Well. You are an idiot. And you have to go in there, and apologize to your best friend for being one." She spoke slowly, practically spelling it out for him.  
Will sighed and turned around. Slowly he turned the door knob, and was unsurprised to find it locked. He knocked once and when he didn't get an answer, he pulled out his key and slid it into the hole, turning it and unlocking the door.

"Hey Nat?" He treaded lightly, not wanting to anger the pregnant woman even more.

"I'm sorry I didn't correct people when they asked about Jellybean." He paused. "I know that I had no right to tell them that, but it just seemed easier than explaining it over and over again. I mean, you know I'll treat Jellybean like my own kid-"

"That's the problem Will! You're my best friend and I know that you'll treat my baby like your own, but I can't separate our relationship between reality and what I want if you do that!"

"What you want?" He asked softly, grabbing her elbow and slowly turning her so she would look at him. "Nat, what do you want?"

"Nothing" She shook her head.

"Natalie-" he began but was cut off by the alarm. He let go of her elbow and gave her a look. "We'll finish this conversation later."

It turned out that later wouldn't be for another twenty-seven hours. A plane had crashed on the airstrip at O'Hare International, killing fourteen of the passengers (including a four-month baby boy) and injuring seventy-seven. Will was exhausted. He was used to working twenty-four hour shifts, but this was almost as busy as the ER was during the bombing last year. He barely had ten minutes to himself and by the time he did, he was too exhausted to go home so he went to the break room, hoping to catch some shut eye.  
He stopped short when he opened the door. Sleeping on the couch, her face facing into the cushions, was Natalie. She looked so peaceful, with one hand folded behind her head and the other protectively covering her belly. He felt his stomach twist painfully and he remembered the conversation that they had earlier.

He didn't know where it was going, and he really didn't know what she had meant by what she wants. Was she talking about him?

"Mhmm, Will?" She called out and turned, slowly blinking her eyes open. Will walked over and bent down next to her head.

"Morning Sleeping Beauty." She groaned.

"You okay?" Will asked worriedly.

"I don't want to wake up."

"You don't have too, just stand up for a second, I'll make the pullout bed and we can share, I need a little shut eye too."

"Okay." She murmured and slowly got to her feet, standing unusually close to him as he made the bed. He helped her back onto the bed, and threw back the covers for her to crawl underneath, him following suite.

"This is what I want." He whispered behind her. Her eyes snapped open and she turned her head to look at him.

"Wh-what?" she asked and he nodded to her.

"You may not be ready, and I am okay with that, you loved Jeff and he gave you Jelly Bean but earlier you said that you couldn't separate our relationship as is with how you want it to be if I treated the baby like my own. Which means you want something, and I'm willing to wait for that."

"But that's what you don't get, Will. I don't want to wait, I want this with you, and I feel bad because I just lost Jeff six months ago, I shouldn't be ready to move on this quickly. And it's your fault, because I am pretty sure that I was slowly falling in love with you even before Jeff died. I still miss him, everyday I think about him, but I'm not really that grieving widow anymore and that's because of you."

"If this is what you really want, then I'm in. I'm all in. I love you Nat, so fucking much, and I'm never going to go anywhere. This, us. It's the long haul. You're it for me." He put his head on her shoulder and kissed it gently.

"Good" She smiled, pulling his arm over her stomach and snuggling into his hold.

"Now get some sleep. I love you." He pulled her tighter against him and closed his eyes. Within minutes he felt her fall asleep against him, and he drifted off moments later.


End file.
